Most of us on this site know that this will be an incredibly important election.  As Democrats, we know that there are monumental challenges that lay ahead of us – such as ending the war in Iraq, restoring the reputation of America around the world, weaning ourselves off our dependence on diminishing  supplies of fossil fuels, trying to halt impending climate change crises, dealing with poverty and the loss of jobs domestically, and dealing with starvation and disease internationally.  We also know that this is a great opportunity, as the Republican Party appears to be as weak and vulnerable as it has ever been for the last several decades.

With the impending mathematical victory of Barack Obama in the race for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, and hopefully the end of the intraparty fighting and division that has marked this primary season, it’s a good time to remember what we’re all about as Democrats and Progressives.  

Hello Kossacks!
Although I've been haunting your site for a while now, This will be my first entry.
Most of the time, when I have news that seems to be breaking, someone here always posts it first, and out of respect for the rules against redundancy, I beg off. Today, however, I have a bit of news that I feel I should share with you, and due to your penchant for supporting local political races, I believe it will be accepted.

I'd like to introduce you (if you haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting Project for the Old American Century), to a man by the name of TJ Templeton. TJ's been wandering the tubes for years as a counter-spin activist, slayer of trolls, and progressive artist extraodinaire. I'm sure some have seen the "it's not fascism when we do it" graphic floating around, among others.
J recently moved to a rural Iowa district, where he realized that he was being represented at the state level by a republican who had run, unopposed, for the last 12 years. J, being the man he is, decided that this was undemocratic, toxic, and simply unacceptable. Now, he's decided to do something about it.

AK-Sen, AK-AL, AK-Pres: Democrats competitive all around

Kos shows his latest poll information:

Young     (R) 40 (42)
Berkowitz (D) 50 (49)

and then goes on to look at the results in light of the Rasmusson AK Presidential Poll:

McCain  (R) 49
Obama   (D) 42

McCain  (R) 55
Clinton (D) 37

You better believe Begich and Berkowitz are cheering Obama's primary victory.

If you're like me (a Diane Benson supporter) you'll find it irritating that she's been left out of the results altogether.  That was also the case in December.

Most of you probably remember me from all of the hard work I put in blogging about Rick Vilello, former candidate for the PA-05 nomination.  Well, during that time I also got very sick.  So sick that I was unable to go to work and they eventually had to let me go.  The good news is that my sickness was apparently an allergic reaction to something in the area, and now that I have left the area, I'm no longer sick.  I'm returning to the PA-06 and noticed that there has not been a single diary on our very progressive candidate down there.  I would like to rectify that situation.  Bear in mind that I do not work for the Bob Roggio campaign, although I do look forward to volunteering for it.

Last August, I was offered the job of a lifetime (for me):

Jeff Merkley hired me to be the Netroots Outreach Coordinator for his U.S. Senate campaign.

I started my blogging career as one of the co-founders of Preemptive Karma and later as one of the co-founders of Loaded Orygun. I managed to do some pretty decent work over at those blogs that I’m very proud of. I worked very hard to write solid, independent pieces that reported the goings on in Oregon politics and culture from my progressive perspective.

I interviewed Jeff in 2006 just after the Oregon House flipped from the Karen Minnis led Republican hands to Democrat, due in large part to Jeff’s personal effort and strategic vision. I remember being so impressed by his sharp mind and thoughtful way of speaking. And the way he looked me in the eye when he talked to me—unabashedly honest.

Maine congressman Tom Allen, also a superdelegate has endorsed Barack Obama today. Tom Allen is also running for the Maine senate seat now held by Republican Susan Collins. Unfortunately Tom Allen hasn't had the best fundraising. So please donate to his senate campaign if you have a little extra from the stimulus package or w/e. https://services.myngp.com/...

List proggressive songs that you know along with the artist.  No videos.  I have the list of songs already mentioned below.  

As the Democratic primary nears its long-awaited conclusion, undecided superdelegates have been drowned under a sudden deluge of angry, sometimes vicious emails from Hillary Clinton supporters urging them to not fall in line behind Barack Obama.
The letter writing campaign picked up steam late Thursday evening when several superdelegates confirmed that a coordinated effort had been launched, apparently independent of Clinton's campaign, to raise last-minute concerns about Obama's candidacy and present the specter of voter defections should the Illinois Democrat become the nominee.
In more than dozen messages sent yesterday evening and shared with The Huffington Post, supporters of Clinton emailed a laundry list of political and exceedingly personal attacks on Obama's candidacy, including criticisms of his prior associations and claims that he, not Clinton, had played the race card. The letters underscore the high emotional pitch of the late stage Democratic primary as well as the utter conviction among many supporters of both campaigns that their candidate is solely worthy of the nomination.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Friends,

Senator Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund has announced its latest "Pick A Patriot" list and they have included our campaign.

Over the past month, Mediamouse.org has been hard at work updating and revising the Progressive Directory of Western Michigan and are excited to be re-launching it.

I've been reading Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff. The subtitle is, "Know Your Values and Frame the Debate," which basically sums up the book, though the finer details more than make it worth reading.

Lakoff argues that the right rose to supremacy by pumping millions and millions of dollars over several decades -- starting in earnest with the nomination of Barry Goldwater in '68 -- not just into combatting the left issue-by-issue, but into building an intellectual infrastructure which has churned out far more ideas and literature than the left, and which today dominates 80% of media airtime and spends about four times as much as the left.

As I was reading I began to grow frightened. Progressives are not like conservatives. We do not fall so easily into a cohesive bloc. By our very nature, we encourage far more diversity of ideas, and far more individualism and independence. We are therefore less effective in coming up with unifying themes and messages and sticking to those themes and messages.

And yet, despite this handicap, we are winning.

There was a post today , Which talked about progressives not liking Israel.

Jim Neal is the progressive candidate in North Carolina's Primary this Tuesday May 6.  He is up against Kay Hagan, a conservative Dem who was apparently nudged by the DSCC to run soon after Jim affirmed in a press interview that he was openly gay.  I first learned about Neal through the netroots and through an article on 365gay.com about his candidacy his candidacy.  After hearing about the campaign, I decided to take a look at the candidates' sites themselves.  Even a quick glance reveals tremendous differences.  Jim is a true progressive on everything from healthcare to gay rights to the Iraq War.  He is also taking a great step forward for all gay Americans by having the courage to be himself and run for office.  We must band together and do what we can to get Jim elected!  Please visit his site, donate, spread the word, and read below the fold for more.

We all know the classic line by Roosevelt about 'fear'.  Conversely, we all know how the 'fear-card' has been played by the Bush administration ( and echoed by all their little droogies across the land ).  Unfortunately, very few Democrats in the House and Senate have had the sand enough to call each and every bluff - they feared their hand wasn't strong, ended-up playin their cards so close to their chest that they forgot what they held.  Those that have stepped-up have either done so with lack-luster results or simply no result at all.  

We are seen by corporations as nothing more than consumers.  We watch American Idol, or Desperate Housewives, or reality progams currently piting has-been rockers of the 80s against former child-stars of the 70's in death-combat-style dance-offs and we absorb every gimmicky new product in every commercial.  We read magazines, newspapers, are pelted with pop-up ads on the internet, sales circulars in the mail, on and on and on.  And we buy - buy - buy - buy!!!!

The same standard seems to hold true when judging people's patriotism.  If you are afraid, and you consume, then you're almost a "partiot".........but not quite yet.

More of my random philosophical ramblings below the flip ------>

I'm a New Jersey doctor who sees patients from all sides of the socioeconomic spectrum.  I grew up in a NJ town with friends from all cultures and creeds.  My experiences as a young doctor have shaped my understandings of how progress can be made during all interactions, even the most adversarial of ones. I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for his life experiences as a man who grew up in a multicultural world, attuned to the hearts and minds of diverse numbers of people.  His ability to convey a complex message to a broad swath of society will serve as his tool to innovate our political system for the better.  His diplomacy skills within both parties, the nation and the world will set the spark for a reversal of our misfortune for the past 7 years.

This is a little personal for me.

I'm a homosexual, and when I was younger I was (forced) to go to some Baptist churches.

Now let me give a disclaimer, I haven't ever been to a black church, but what I saw in those (probably 95%) white churches was a plethora of hate.

Hate against people like me.  I'll be honest and say that I struggled with my sexuality when I was a young teen, and eventually I did turn away from the church, now I think of myself as agnostic.  Oh course, I was never really conservative, so now that I look back on it, it was an easy break.

I'll start off with a relevant quote.

Rhinos? Rhinos?! Our enemies seek to hide from us in metal boxes, the cowards, the fools! We... we should take away their precious metal boxes.

The man who said this clearly understood the importance of vehicles to modern life. Granted, he is fictional (his name's Firaeveus Carron, if you want to look it up), the situation is fictional, and the Rhino vehicle he was referring to is also fictional, but the idea is clear. Vehicles get you from here to there with great speed, and one hopes also equivalent or greater safety, compared to walking.

So I want to ask you a question, dear readers. One of these days, at least, if there's a chance for it to be profitable, someone's going to come up with a way for any consumer with some extra cash to design his own vehicle, and I have a suspicion that the interface for doing so will be fairly simple. My question is, would it fly? Would you use it? What kind of car would you build? More below.

This will be a short but important post.  Some of you may know the excellent work that Cliff Schecter has done around the blogosphere, both at The Agonist, at Huffington Post, and other places.  Some of you may have seen him take down and destroy right wing talking heads over the past few years on cable "news" channels.

And some of you know the fantastic work he has done researching and bringing to light the Real McCain.